Results 11,101-11,120 of 24,635 for speaker:Mary Harney

Written Answers — Departmental Advertising: Departmental Advertising (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 93 and 166 together. Decisions taken by the HSE in relation to its communications strategy are matters for the Health Service Executive itself. However, the issue raised by the Deputy is a matter which should be of much wider concern. The issue is one of standards in broadcasting and specifically whether it is acceptable practice for any individual to be...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I refer the Deputy to the response which I gave this afternoon to Priority Parliamentary Question No. 2.

Written Answers — Homeless Persons: Homeless Persons (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 95, 147 and 165 together. The provision of accommodation to homeless adults is the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the individual local authorities. The provision of health services to homeless adults is the responsibility of the HSE.From the publication in 2000 of Homelessness — An Integrated Strategy...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Government policy in relation to older people is to support people to live in dignity and independence in their own homes and communities for as long as possible. Where this is not feasible, the health service supports access to quality long-term residential care where this is appropriate. This policy approach is renewed and developed in the latest partnership agreement "Towards 2016". The...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: The Government decided in July 2005 that the best option for improving geographic access for patients in the North West to radiation oncology services is to (i) facilitate access to Belfast City Hospital and (ii) progress consideration of a joint venture for the provision of oncology services in the medium term to patients in the North West from a satellite centre in the North West linked to...

Written Answers — Pharmacy Services: Pharmacy Services (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 98, 123 and 195 together. The Government is firm in its view that the wholesale mark-up paid on the price of drugs should be reduced to a level that is fair to both taxpayers and wholesalers. The existing mark-up in the range of 15% to 17.6% is neither reasonable nor sustainable. The Government also supports the HSE's decision to pay an 8% mark-up from 1...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: The purpose of my recent official visit to the United States was to visit a number of health care facilities with a view to seeing, at first hand, how services are planned, organised and delivered. These included the Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona, the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health, MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Houston, Texas and the Veterans Administration (V.A.) Medical Centre in...

Written Answers — Organ Donation: Organ Donation (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Two systems that can be used to ascertain an individual's wishes on organ donation are the opt-in system and the opt-out system. The former system (which operates in this country) requires the specific consent of the donor or, where he or she is deceased, their relatives, before organs or tissues are removed. The opt-out system presumes that all deceased persons consent to donation unless...

Written Answers — Hospital Staff: Hospital Staff (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Over 130,000 people work full-time or part-time in our public health services. In recent years, the Government's ongoing high level of investment in health has achieved and maintained significant increases in the number of doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals employed in the public health services. The Government has also invested heavily in the education and training of such...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: The Deputy's question relates to the management and delivery of health and personal social services, which are the responsibility of the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004. Accordingly, my Department has requested the Parliamentary Affairs Division of the Executive to arrange to have this matter investigated and to have a reply issued directly to the Deputy.

Written Answers — Irish Blood Transfusion Service: Irish Blood Transfusion Service (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 107 and 141 together. My officials have been in regular contact with the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) on this matter and I have been briefed accordingly. The IBTS entered into an Agreement with the New York Blood Centre Inc (NYBC) for the provision of a data query tool on 23 October 2007. The purpose of the data warehousing and reporting tool is to...

Written Answers — Hospitals Building Programme: Hospitals Building Programme (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 111, 151 and 222 together. The Government's co-location initiative aims to make available approximately 1,000 public acute hospital beds for public patients by transferring private activity, with some limited exceptions from public acute hospitals to co-located private hospitals. The co-location initiative is designed not only to increase public acute bed...

Written Answers — Departmental Reports: Departmental Reports (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Following disclosures about the provision of breast cancer services at Barringtons Hospital and Medical Centre, it was agreed to commission an independent review of patients' files in the Hospital during the period1 September, 2003 to 10 August, 2007. The Chairperson of the review team is Dr. Henrietta Campbell, Chief Executive Officer of the All-Ireland Cancer Foundation and former Chief...

Written Answers — Long-Term Illness Scheme: Long-Term Illness Scheme (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 114 and 215 together. Under the 1970 Health Act, the Health Service Executive may arrange for the supply, without charge, of drugs, medicines and medical and surgical appliances to people with a specified condition, for the treatment of that condition, through the Long Term Illness Scheme (LTI). The LTI does not cover GP fees or hospital co-payments. The...

Written Answers — Hospital Services: Hospital Services (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 115 and 129 together. Operational responsibility for the management and delivery of health and personal social services was assigned to the Health Service Executive under the Health Act 2004 and funding for all health services has been provided as part of its overall vote. Therefore, the Executive is the appropriate body to consider the particular matter...

Written Answers — Organ Retention: Organ Retention (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 116 and 136 together. When Ms Anne Dunne SC presented her report on post mortem practice to me in March 2005, I was advised by the Attorney General that it could not be published for legal and natural justice reasons. Some sections of the Executive Summary were released on 18 July 2006 in response to a request under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Acts from...

Written Answers — Clinical Indemnity Scheme: Clinical Indemnity Scheme (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 119 and 212 together. Independent or self employed midwives are not employees of the public health service. As the independent midwives are private operators who do not have service level agreements with the public health service it is not possible at present for them to come within the ambit of the Clinical Indemnity Scheme administered by the State Claims...

Written Answers — Health Services: Health Services (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: The Programme for Government contains a commitment to the development of a freely available and personalised national programme to provide for the prevention and early detection of illnesses for both men and women. The Programme intends that guidelines should be developed for the Personal Health Check based on best available national and international evidence of what works well, with...

Written Answers — Departmental Agencies: Departmental Agencies (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: Since the establishment of the HSE's National Office for Suicide Prevention in 2005, additional funding of €3.55 million has been provided for the implementation of "Reach Out" — the National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention, 2005-2014. This brought the total funding available to support suicide prevention initiatives to €8 million and this level of funding continues into...

Written Answers — Health Service Staff: Health Service Staff (5 Mar 2008)

Mary Harney: I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 127 together. It is recognised that the number of General Practitioners (GPs) being trained at present is not sufficient to meet anticipated manpower need. In 2004, My Department agreed with the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) that the number of GP vocational training places should be increased from 84 to 150 on a phased basis over three...